Student newspaper is showcase for First Amendment article

The article below is copied from The Wenatchee World's Web site, which limits access to subscribers. Otherwise I would just post a link. I am working on permission, and when I receive it, I will update. If I don't receive it, I'll take this post down. But I wanted to share it immediately.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.

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Today’s topic - The First Amendment — Student journalists take issue with peers’ opinions on First Amendment rights

By Alicia Gooden, World staff writer
Wednesday - February 16, 2005

Government censorship of newspapers?

Not a bad idea.

Restricting a newspaper’s ability to publish freely without government approval?

Also not a bad idea — according to many of the teenagers in 544 high schools across the country surveyed for the Future of the First Amendment Project, a two-year, $1 million survey funded by the Knight Foundation.

Please say it ain’t so — at least to a group of outspoken teen journalists at The Apple Leaf, the national award-winning student newspaper at Wenatchee High School.

Telling them that only half their cohorts in the country think that newspapers should be printed without government approval is like Kryptonite to Superman — toxic and potentially fatal.

“It’s the First Amendment that allows you to see every side of an issue in the newspaper,” said Sam Rechtin, a 17-year-old senior and editor-in-chief of The Apple Leaf.

Over at Eastmont High School, student adviser Jean Gillespie of The Scratching Post, said that she was “unpleasantly surprised” by the results of the First Amendment survey. She said she is having a difficult time getting students to contribute to the paper and “stick their neck” out a little bit. But she said she still believes that the newspaper is a way to give students a chance to voice their opinions.

The Future of the First Amendment Project was funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s High School Initiative. Its aim is to encourage students to use the news media, including student journalism, and to better understand and appreciate the First Amendment.

High school students’ attitudes about the First Amendment are important because each generation of citizens helps define what freedom means in our society, according to the study.

The results of the surveys, which were sent to more than 100,000 students, nearly 8,000 teachers and more than 500 administrators, were troubling to journalism educators and First Amendment supporters.

Almost 75 percent of teens surveyed for the project said they either didn’t know how they felt about the First Amendment or took it for granted.

That doesn’t surprise this group of passionate scholastic journalists, who added that their peers probably don’t know what rights are guaranteed to them under the First Amendment of the Constitution or how to interpret them.

“I think they (students) believe that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to them,” said Sarah Jeglum, news editor for The Apple Leaf and a senior at the school.

That’s really too bad, said Apple Leaf adviser and WHS English teacher Logan Aimone.

“I think kids get their rights trampled on all the time,” he said.

As an example, he said dress codes have turned into “good taste” codes, which squash a student’s right to free expression.

In addition to having reservations about newspapers having the freedom to publish freely without government approval, the national study also revealed that many teens have poor knowledge of what is protected under the First Amendment.

Among the other findings: 75 percent of the students incorrectly think flag burning is illegal and almost half believe the government can restrict indecent material on the Internet (it cannot).

But First Amendment advocates and Aimone said the problem lies in what the students are not being taught.

“We’re increasing the education in math and the sciences,” said Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center. “Maybe we need to refocus on how we learn about the rather complicated process of applying the five basic freedoms to a modern society.”

The Apple Leaf has stirred its share of controversy in recent years.

Between a diagram that showed students how to use a condom, and articles on homosexuality and the growing popularity of oral sex, the basic premise of the First Amendment has emboldened this group of student journalists.

“The less you teach people their rights, the less they’ll challenge the system,” said Jeglum.

The Apple Leaf’s plunge into sometimes controversial topics isn’t done for shock value, said the students. Those stories are the exceptions.

Most of the paper’s stories are everyday features and news stories like light-hearted features of the reemergence of fashion trends like leg warmers.

“We get ideas that are important to the student body,” said Rechtin.

However, the paper has already drawn the ire of at least one adult school staffer who called it a “left-wing rag” — a claim that they all dispute.

There is an administrative review policy for The Apple Leaf in the Wenatchee School District, but Aimone said that the paper does not have to get WHS Principal Mike Franza to approve every issue.

“I think that shows that the administration believes that we are teaching responsible journalism and that students should be trusted,” said Aimone. “We’ve worked out a good working relationship over the past five years.”

Two recent examples stand out in the minds of staffers as to why First Amendment freedoms should be protected and valued.

One was an opinion piece from student Andrew Crollard, opinion editor for The Apple Leaf who espoused his atheist viewpoints in an opinion piece and questioned the amount of Christian practices at WHS.

It angered several students at the school.

Another story was about Panther basketball coach Brett McGinnis, who ordered a player to overthrow a ball past teammates and into the stands of rowdy fans.

Alex Pepperl, sports editor for The Apple Leaf, said there was a lot of discussion and worry among student newspaper and school staff about whether the story should run.

In the end, it was printed.

“It was important for the news to come out,” said Rechtin. “It wasn’t our job to make the news; it was our job to report it.”

Besides, student photographer Sam McHaney said that he didn’t want to be a part of a publication that watered down facts.

“Sometimes, you just end up giving data instead of stories,” he said.

Despite the national survey that shows shrinking support and limited knowledge among their peers for First Amendment freedoms, Rechtin said he wanted The Apple Leaf to become a “reader board” for WHS.

“We want the paper to be a place where students feel free to express their opinions,” he said.

Alicia Gooden can be reached at 665-1181 or by e-mail at gooden@wenworld.com

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Key findings of the Future of the First Amendment Project:

Nearly three-fourths of students say either they don’t know how they feel about the First Amendment or take it for granted.

Students are less likely than adults to think that people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions or newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

Students lack knowledge and understanding about key aspects of the First Amendment. Seventy-five percent incorrectly think that flag burning is illegal. Nearly half erroneously believe the government can restrict indecent material on the Internet.

Students who do not participate in any media-related activities are less likely to think that people should be allowed to burn or deface the American flag. Students who have taken more media and/or First Amendment classes are more likely to agree that people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions.

Students participating in student-run newspapers are more likely to believe that students should be allowed to report controversial issues without approval of school authorities than students who do not participate in student newspapers.

Source: firstamendmentfuture.org

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What the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.